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Kingdom Come, Chapter 2
KINGDOM COME, CHAPTER 2 The aroma of steaming hot noodle soup filled my nostrils as I finished up the last sentence I was writing in the orange notebook in my bedroom in the Jade Palace. That orange notebook was my diary (I had run home to the human world, grabbed it, and come back to the animal world). That diary is my seventh diary. I received my first diary when I was only six years old, in first grade. I had just figured out my love of writing in school, and it was the day before my seventh birthday. My aunt gave me the notebook, and I decided to make it my first diary. Since then, I have been writing in my diaries a lot, and writing in my diaries inspired me to write stories. I put my pen down and noticed the familiar aroma of Mr. Ping's "Secret Ingredient" Soup. Po didn't even have to call me to dinner anymore, I knew that when the smell of soup got strong enough to reach my room, it was dinnertime. I ended my entry with, 'Signed, Kelsi Faith Rider', and I closed the journal and placed my journal and pen on my dresser. I walked down the hallway and to the dining room, where Po was stirring a steaming pot of noodles. The aroma got stronger with every step I took. I sighed at the smell of it. 'I'm in heaven,' I thought. Even the smell of the soup was great. No wonder it was famous throughout the valley. Not only was the soup tasteful, it brought back memories. The aroma filled my nose and I remembered the first night Trinity, Nicole, and I came to the animal world and Mr. Ping allowed us a place to stay. The next morning when I woke up, the smell of secret ingredient soup brought me to awaken, and I smelled it for the first time. Dinner was delicious- the soup was like a chunk of heaven put in a pot and turned into soup form. Is it possible for something to taste beautiful? Because that's what the soup tasted like- it tasted beautiful. If this soup were a woman, then all the men in the valley would have fallen in love with her at first glance. If this soup were a man, I would be chasing it across the globe. After the dishes were washed, I was thinking about writing in my diary a little more. But what I really wanted to do more than ever was sit by the peach tree and meditate a little. So that's what I did- I walked past my room, and out by the peach tree. The evening breeze swept past me, tickling my cheek. I breathed in the sweet smelling air. Every time I came here, I felt calm and relaxed, no matter what was going on in my life. I sat down, picking a peach off the tree and devouring it. It tasted like happiness. Was it normal for a peach to taste like happiness? My answer to that would be yes, especially peaches from this tree. I took a blade of grass in between my index finger and thumb and rubbed it. "Grandma Sylvia," I said to no one in particular, remembering my father's mother. "How are things up in heaven? I hope you're doing well. I'm doing fine down here. Things have been alright, except for the romance thing. I do love Andrew, but when he speaks like that, I get upset. Please, Grandma Sylvia, give me strength…" Out of nowhere, I let go of the grass and started to sing a song that I had recently learned: Run, run, run away Buy yourself a million days A cold wind's whispering secrets in your ear So low only you can hear Oo-ooh Run, run, run and hide Somewhere no one else can find Tall trees bend and lean, pointing where to go Where you will still be all alone Oo-ooh Don't you fret my dear It'll all be over soon I'll be waiting he-ere For you I heard applauding and screamed in terror, turning around, getting in my fighting stance. "Calm down, Kelsi, it's me!" Po exclaimed, stepping forward. I quickly got out of my fighting stance. "Um, s-sorry, Po," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I just… didn't expect anyone." "It's okay," Po said, coming closer to me. "I heard someone singing and followed the sound. It was you, wasn't it?" I nodded, biting my lower lip, ready for criticism. "You have a really nice voice," Po said to me. "You think so?" I asked. I'd been told that by a bunch of people, but never really believed it that much. Hearing it from Po was huge for me. He nodded. "Thanks," I thanked him. "What's the song called?" Po asked. "It's called 'Kingdom Come', by one of my favorite artists, The Civil Wars," I explained, sitting down underneath the peach tree. "It's a good song," Po said, sitting next to me. "Keep singing." "Keep singing?" I asked. I sang my best when I was alone, and I doubted that I would be able to sing well in front of someone, especially Po. I can only sing either alone or in front of a large crowd of people. Five hundred people, I was fine. One or two people, I was nervous. Po nodded. I sighed. 'Here it goes,' I thought, and opened my mouth to continue singing: Run fast as you can No one has to understand Fly high, across the sky, from here to kingdom come Fall back down to where you're from Oo-ooh Don't you fret my dear It'll all be over soon I'll be waiting he-ere For you-ooo-oooohhhh For you-ooo-oooohhhh For you-ooo-oo-oo-oooohhhh I paused for a minute, and was completely shocked when Po started singing: Po: Don't you fret my dear It'll all be over soon I'll be waiting he-ere For you I smiled. "You're pretty good," I said truthfully. "Really?" Po asked. I nodded. "I've never really sang before," he added, breaking eye contact with me. "Well, you're incredible for a beginner," I remarked. "Want me to teach you the rest of the song?" He nodded, and we spent the evening sitting around, singing, and soon, we almost sounded as good as the Civil Wars themselves. It was hard to believe that Po had never sang before, since he sounded so good. "So, you like singing?" Po asked me at a point. "Heck yeah," I replied, rolling over and laying down on the grass, looking up at the star painted sky. The stars were beautiful tonight, like a million white dots on a black canvas. "I've been singing for years, and I've been told that I'm good. I don't agree." "What do you mean?" "Well, I don't know if I'm that good at singing," I replied. "Not before tonight, anyway. Hearing it from you, the Dragon Warrior, makes me more confident that I'm a good singer." "You really feel that way?" Po asked. I nodded. "Wow." A moment passed, and Po asked, "What else do you like to do other than singing?" I realized that we had never sat down and talked about what we like to do. This was the first time. "Well, I'm really into writing," I explained. "I discovered my love of writing when I was only in first grade, when our class worked a lot with writing. I loved it, and I wanted to write more. That's when I decided that I wanted to spend my life as a writer." Po looked at me, his emerald green eyes looking deep into my blue-green ones. "Do your eyes usually glow like that when you're talking?" he asked. Again with the eyes! "Yeah, when I was talking to my friend about writing earlier today, he said that my eyes were glowing a little too," I said, blushing a little. "I guess that's what happens to me when I talk about writing." "I can tell that you really like writing," Po said, smiling. "So, what else do you like to do?" "Well," I said. "I also like writing songs-" "You write songs?" "Yeah," I replied, glad that Po was interested in my life. "I didn't start until I was eleven. I composed a song in my mind, and I put it in a notebook. That became my book of songs. Whenever I feel sad, angry, happy, any emotion at all, I put it into a song." "What are your songs usually about?" Po asked. I hesitated to answer. "Love," I said. "Love?" "Yeah. I… have this guy that I'm pretty much in love with. His name's Andrew Gussia. He knows that I love him, but for now, he's just a good friend of mine," I explained to Po. "I don't know if he likes me back, but…" my voice trailed off. "I know that he knows that I like him," I added quickly. "And even though he knows, he acts like we're just friends. I have a feeling that'll change very soon." "Uh-huh," Po said, listening carefully. "Well, I'm no expert on the topic of romance. I've really never been in love." "You've never been in love!?" I asked unbelievably. "Po, that's terrible! That's tragic!" "Not really," Po said, looking at me funny. "At least, I don't think it is." "Po, to the kids my age, if you've never loved someone you're not related to, it's a terrible thing," I explained. "It sounds silly, but once you've fallen in love, it's serious." Po laughed. "What else do kids your age think is terrible?" he laughed. I smiled, agreeing that it is a little funny. "Well, most girls think that it's horrible for a girl over the age of ten to go out without makeup," I said. Po laughed even harder, and I joined him. "I mean, we're too young to wear makeup, and I think that makeup's just plain old girly," I added when I had calmed down a bit. "I don't pay attention to girly stuff like that. Neither do Nicole and Trinity." "Not many female Kung Fu warriors wear makeup," Po added. "They think it's too girly. The only one I know who does is-" "Viper," I finished for him. "Yeah. There must be very few girly Kung Fu warriors." Po was about to open his mouth to say something, when I gave a loud yawn. "Sorry, Po, but I'm kind of tired," I said, rubbing my eyes. "I'm going to bed." "Alright," Po said, getting up. "I guess I'll go to bed too, then." I got up and we began walking to the bedrooms. "I'd like to hear more about the human world sometime," Po said to me as we reached his bedroom. "It sounds like an interesting place." "Compared to the animal world, it's incredibly advanced," I replied. "But it's also…" I trailed off. I was about to say, "A war zone", but I decided that I shouldn't. "Never mind," I said. "Good night, Po." "Night, Kelsi," Po said, closing his door. I continued walking and reached my room, where I entered and closed the door. ---- What happened there, just now, at the peach tree? I sang, which brought Po to me. That started our conversation, causing us to reflect on our differences. Wow. That's what the power of a voice can do.